Archives for April, 2015

Bipolar disorder is pretty much all about emotions. “How are you feeling?” “What is your mood?” We can be hyper-sensitive to feelings and get lost in them. It can be hard to dig out no matter which mood you’re experiencing at a given time. It’s exhausting and sometimes I just get fed up with it. Apathy replaces emotion and I don’t care whether or not I care. On the other hand, I...

As hard as I may try, I am not neurotypical. As hard as I push myself, I’m going to have a harder time than most people. It’s not an excuse; it’s an illness. That’s why there are four prescription bottles in my cabinet that I have to take everyday to function. They also help as much as they can, but they are not a cure. I’m not asking for your sympathy. I’m asking...

The past two days have been extremely frustrating. To characterize me as “irritable” would be putting it mildly. Normally I keep my head down and my mouth shut. That discipline went away as did my verbal inhibition. Granted, it felt cathartic and I was able to say things in the moment without the “I wish I’d said this” feeling later. I was on form. I was also not acting the way my...

I tried to find the clinical term for “brain fog” to sound more professional, but Google couldn’t figure out exactly what I meant by “clinical term”. I’m sure you know what I mean though, like you can’t understand what’s happening past the end of your nose. Like a daydream without the actual dream part. Everything just goes temporarily out of focus and your brain RAM dumps pieces of information you...

Where does grief exist? Does it lie in our thoughts? Perhaps our gut, or is that merely the shock causing the knots? The heart? It’s not the same flutter as falling in love. Certainly not the lungs. There is nothing there. The only remaining air has collected in the throat to choke back tears, but maybe it’s in the tears. Maybe we should let them fall to make the sadness stream down...

This post is part four of four about mental illnesses that are often mistaken for bipolar disorder or one another in general: major depressive disorder, borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. In this post: Schizoaffective Disorder.

Welcome to the final installment of the series on illnesses that are often mistaken for bipolar disorder. It’s been a lot to take in. The brain is a weird, weird thing and we know almost nothing about how it...

This post is part three of four about mental illnesses that are often mistaken for bipolar disorder or one another in general: major depressive disorder, borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. In this post: Schizophrenia.

This post is part two of four about mental illnesses that are often mistaken for bipolar disorder or one another in general: major depressive disorder, borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. In this post: borderline personality disorder. Let’s get to it.

Part II

Borderline Personality Disorder

Borderline personality disorder is not a very well-known mental illness, but it’s as common as bipolar disorder. About 1-2% of the population suffers from BPD. The...

This post is one of four about four mental illnesses that are often mistaken for bipolar disorder or one another in general: major depressive disorder, borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. In this post: Major Depressive Disorder

For those of us with psychological disorders, the distinction between them is incredibly important. As with cancer, the different diagnoses help determine our treatments and coping mechanisms. We can predict our behavior and more easily...

When I’m in a depressive state of bipolar, it’s hard. That may be the most obvious statement I could make, especially to someone with bipolar disorder, but that’s what it boils down to. It’s hard to get up in the morning because sleep sounds so much better. It’s hard to get through a day of work. When you make it home, it’s hard to take care of the house and give your family the support they...